Google just unwrapped Android 7.1.1 factory image files for Pixel and Nexus devices. That’s right on schedule with Verizon’s news this morning and matches up to Google’s previously monthly releases. Not only is this Android 7.1.1, but it should be the December security patch as well. So far, we are seeing 7.1.1 files for Pixel … Continued

Google just unwrapped Android 7.1.1 factory image files for Pixel and Nexus devices. That’s right on schedule with Verizon’s news this morning and matches up to Google’s previously monthly releases. Not only is this Android 7.1.1, but it should be the December security patch as well.

In early October, a report circulated that HTC was not Google’s first choice for manufacturing the Pixel devices. In fact, Google first approached Huawei, the makers of the Nexus 6P, but due to Google’s fierce desire to have no other branding on the devices besides its own, Huawei stepped away from the deal. Confirmed this … Continued

In early October, a report circulated that HTC was not Google’s first choice for manufacturing the Pixel devices. In fact, Google first approached Huawei, the makers of the Nexus 6P, but due to Google’s fierce desire to have no other branding on the devices besides its own, Huawei stepped away from the deal.

Confirmed this week by Huawei executive Colin Giles, having no mention of Huawei in any promotional or branding material was apparently a major turn off for the company. It is reported that years ago, Huawei decided it would not be a contract shop for other companies looking to produce handsets. Since Google was looking purely for this exact thing, the deal never took place.

What we have in the HTC-made Pixel and Pixel XL is not bad, so it’s hard to quantify what life would be like if Huawei took the gig. Would they be super different? Who knows. More importantly, Huawei continues to stress that it is still a partner with Google. This means that the door is always open for future projects with the two working together.

In what ways do you imagine a Huawei-made Pixel device would differ from these HTC devices?

On the backside of Pixel devices, you obviously won’t find the word “Nexus” anywhere, but instead, a simplistic G for Google. For all of the Nexus diehards, dbrand has a skin option available for both the Pixel and Pixel XL, which will replace that G with a Nexus X. This new skin option is available … Continued

On the backside of Pixel devices, you obviously won’t find the word “Nexus” anywhere, but instead, a simplistic G for Google. For all of the Nexus diehards, dbrand has a skin option available for both the Pixel and Pixel XL, which will replace that G with a Nexus X.

This new skin option is available in dbrand’s online interactive customizer system, which actually has more than 160,000 possible Pixel skin combinations. For example, if you want Red carbon fiber with a colored X, or a White leather option with Black X, you can have it.

For pricing, both the Pixel and Pixel XL are priced identically – $9.95 gets you two types of back skins, $4.95 gets you a front skin, and logos start at under $1. That’s not too shabby to make your Pixel look like a futuristic Nexus.

Too soon? Maybe. But I don’t know how else to put it to the Nexus lifers who are screaming frustrations in the comments about Google’s new high-priced Pixel phones, phones that have signaled the end of Google’s beloved, nerd-focused hardware line. I know it’s going to be hard to just “get over it,” but think … Continued

Too soon? Maybe. But I don’t know how else to put it to the Nexus lifers who are screaming frustrations in the comments about Google’s new high-priced Pixel phones, phones that have signaled the end of Google’s beloved, nerd-focused hardware line. I know it’s going to be hard to just “get over it,” but think about the positives here with Pixel.

This certainly looks like Google being really serious about phones for the first time and that could very well mean an even better experience for you and I. According to a report out of Bloomberg, Google has walled off the newish hardware division led by former Motorola boss, Rick Osterloh, from the Android team, much in the way they did when they owned Motorola. I don’t know about you guys, but a similar “firewall” produced the original Moto X, a phone that is still one of my favorites of all time largely in part because it introduced software features that have helped shape all of our current phones. It’s almost as if these supposed separations help enable brilliant minds to outdo or surprise those on the other side.

Keep in mind that these Pixel phones finally represent a top-to-bottom vision of an Android phone from Google as well. While HTC may have pieced together these phones on the manufacturing side of things, these are 100% Google designs. That means each and every component is based on what Google, the controller of Android, thought would work the best with their own operating system. That should mean that it has been fine-tuned like no other Android phone to not only take advantage of the latest in Android, but to display that to you and I as well.

That’s not all that different from Nexus phones, I get that. But in a way, it’s taking the Nexus approach that you all love so much and then cranking it up another notch by leaving out additional players. This is Google saying, “We’re gonna do this our way 100% and we hope you like it.”

Sure, the prices are not what you are used to seeing. In fact, many of you are outright angry over the top tier pricing of the Pixel phones that compares to what Samsung and Apple price their phones at. I don’t necessarily have a way to fight those arguments, especially after years of reasonably priced Nexus phones. My only thought is that at least Google is offering their own financing now to help soften the blow. But look, Google thinks these are phones that compare to the best in the business and should be priced as such. And if these phones are as good as Google thinks, they may be worth it. After all, Samsung and Apple kill everyone in the business in sales volume and none of their phones are $400. All of their flagship phones, the phones they sell the most of, are $650 and above. The Galaxy Note 7 started at $850 and sold millions out of the gate. Clearly, people are willing to shell out for the goods.

And in the end, what’s the better choice? If you are a Google enthusiast who loved Nexus devices, the Pixel phones are the phones built for you. They are more of Google’s vision for Android than ever before. Isn’t that mostly what you loved about Nexus? Or was it really just the damn price? Google designed every ounce of these and is even giving them exclusive features that no other phone currently has access to. They’ll get swift updates, they work on every single carrier, and they’ll get whatever new goodness Google comes up with first. Generally speaking, these are Nexus phones, just under a new name and fully realized by Google. That sure sounds like the phone we have all dreamed of.

Are they perfect? Well, no. We would love to have seen water resistance, less bezel, and stereo speakers. And you know what? We’ll likely ding the Pixels in those areas come review time. But I still don’t see, even with those flaws, how Nexus lovers aren’t excited for what Google just unveiled.

Try to move beyond the price, just like Tim told you when the Galaxy Note 7 was introduced. Trade in your old phone. Sell it somewhere. Sign-up for financing. You have options to make the higher-than-expected cost come down. And when you do that, enjoy Google’s new phone that could very well be a better version of Nexus.

What you saw this morning, at the Google event that is, wasn’t only the launch of the Pixel smartphone line, but likely the death of the Nexus line. At the event, Google made it clear that they have “no plans” for future Nexus devices. While the Nexus line never gained huge traction outside of the Android … Continued

What you saw this morning, at the Google event that is, wasn’t only the launch of the Pixel smartphone line, but likely the death of the Nexus line. At the event, Google made it clear that they have “no plans” for future Nexus devices.

While the Nexus line never gained huge traction outside of the Android fan realm, it was Google’s platform to showcase everything Android was capable of. Each year, we would anticipate and speculate what Google may offer, and which OEM would be selected to manufacture the device. With Pixel, this may not change at all, but the Nexus brand that has become such a large part of our lives, is now going away.

The first Nexus was the Nexus One that launched in 2010, with the last Nexus devices being the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, made available last year. Between these launches, we had numerous smartphones, tablets, a spherical doorstop that never launched, as well as the Nexus Player. If you ask me, the Nexus 6P and 5X are great devices to go out on, as many would argue the Nexus 6P was one of, if not the best Nexus device ever released in that near six-year span.

As for current Nexus owners who don’t intend on upgrading to the Pixel, don’t worry, Google isn’t going to forget about you. On Twitter, the Nexus team made it clear that you will continue to receive updates as you would expect, at least until the devices reach their end of life in terms of software support.

As Nexus users, you’ve played an integral role in this journey for Google. We’re excited about Pixel, and want you to know that (1/2)

Project Fi’s exclusive WiFi Assistant feature that has allowed Nexus owners to automatically connect securely to open WiFi networks appears to be rolling out to non-Fi Nexus owners at the moment. Google first announced WiFi Assistant for all Nexus phones back in August, suggesting that we would start seeing it within the “next few weeks.” … Continued

Project Fi’s exclusive WiFi Assistant feature that has allowed Nexus owners to automatically connect securely to open WiFi networks appears to be rolling out to non-Fi Nexus owners at the moment. Google first announced WiFi Assistant for all Nexus phones back in August, suggesting that we would start seeing it within the “next few weeks.” It looks like we made it there.

With WiFi Assistant, assuming you toggle it on, your Nexus will connect to open WiFi networks that Google has deemed as secure and reliable. That way, as you cruise into stores, malls, airports, or around town, you can alleviate some of the stress on your data plan and use WiFi without the hassle of logging in and all that jazz.

If your phone is ready for WiFi Assistant, you should see the option in Settings>Google>Networking. You may also find it in Settings>WiFi>Gear icon (top right). From within there, you will see a toggle for “Use open Wi-Fi automatically.”

I’m not currently seeing it live on my Nexus devices, but you may. Be sure to head into Google Play and update to the latest version of Google Connectivity Services. You may also need an update to Play Services as well or maybe you just need to remain patient.

Last night’s bombshell news came from a report that suggested Google will ditch Nexus branding for its 2016 phones and loop them into the Pixel brand. As you can imagine, I have some thoughts on this move and would much rather talk about Pixel phones today than read volcanic takes on the Galaxy Note 7 … Continued

My first thought is, this makes sense in a way because it always seemed unnecessary to have both Nexus and Pixel lines under one roof. The Pixel line, not unlike the Nexus line, has often been thought of as the Google employee line of devices, largely because they were ridiculously expensive niche products. At one time, Pixel seemed to mean “high-end Chromebook for our employees who hate these cheap $150 Chromebooks that our partners make” while Nexus was more, “Here is this phone that our Android team designed and likes, and will probably appeal to nerds, but we don’t care about selling a lot of them.” Yet as Nexus seems to have grown in appeal, Android security has become more important than ever, and Google certainly seems ready to fully invest and sell volumes of hardware in all sorts of categories, having one major brand to move forward is a good choice.

Why kill Nexus and go with Pixel? I don’t know, but in a way it gives Google a fresh start for smartphones. No one bought either Chromebook Pixel or the Pixel C, so Google can introduce phones under this Pixel brand almost as if it is a brand new brand. These could be sold as some of the first Google phones, offered with a special suite of software, potential 24-7 live support, and a promise of software updates. They could also move them deeply into carrier stores to spread their availability and market the hell out of the launch. Well, assuming Google wants to take marketing seriously.

Funny, part of this sounds a lot like that Android Silver program from 2014 that surfaced in numerous reports before dying a behind-the-scenes quick death. The difference there was the idea that Google wouldn’t build Silver phones, they would just partner with other manufacturers to offer Google Play Edition-like experiences, sell them through carriers, and offer next-level support and training. With Pixel phones, you get the feeling that Google just wants a new brand to sell to carriers and then to customers, while still keeping the majority of it all in-house with that previously mentioned support.

The move to Pixel does worry me that along with the death of Nexus, Nexus pricing might die too. Pixel devices have never been that affordable. The base model Pixel C tablet with 32GB storage is a whopping $499 and the Chromebook Pixel devices were well north of $1,000 each. Nexus phones, as long as they weren’t a carrier-tied experiment, were often so desirable to many of us because we felt like we were getting Google’s vision for Android, mostly high-end specs with something new tossed in as a bonus, all at a reasonable price. If rumors of these new Pixel phones being sold through carriers are true, I’d expect the reasonable price model to go away. In the end, carriers have a lot of say over things like pricing and Google has yet to show that it can flex the right muscles to push any of them around.

One topic that I am interested to see unfold lies in the design department. The two Chromebook Pixels and the Pixel C are all phenomenally designed devices. This is the type of hardware that you pick up and go, “Holy shit, this is nice.” All were housed in matte aluminum bodies with sharp rectangular edges, and all tried to emphasize a next-gen tech (touchscreens on laptops, USB Type-C, magnetic charging keyboards, random yet awesome lightbars, etc.). With the Pixel and Pixel XL (rumored names for “sailfish” and “marlin,” respectively), we have yet to see a leak that shows this kind of impressive hardware.

Now, leaks are leaks and we wouldn’t put much into them, but so far the few that have surfaced have us worried about Google cutting corners by re-hashing old HTC hardware. Maybe those devices in the wild are nothing but early prototypes and Google has something special still planned for a reveal, which we have pegged for October 4.

Speaking of HTC, their involvement is incredibly confusing. The Pixel brand up to this point has been about Google building super high-end devices with great design that show off potential, but that they don’t exactly expect to sell a lot of. The Pixel brand also never has a hardware partner, at least that Google is willing to talk about. With this year’s Google phones, we know that HTC is building them because the FCC told us so. Having a hardware partner like HTC make your phones is a Nexus move, not a Pixel move. See how this whole branding thing is kind of a mess?

It could be that Google recently changed its mind and wants to go the Pixel route with phones this year and not name a hardware partner, but they had already committed to HTC building the phones. That could mean that HTC’s name and involvement will be reduced as they push Pixel instead of Nexus, while focusing on having no partner at all for 2017. Either way, you have to feel a little sorry for HTC, as rumors have these phones showing zero HTC branding at all, which wouldn’t be the case if these were Nexus phones.

In the end, the move to Pixel from Nexus doesn’t upset me. Sure, Nexus phones have always been our most loved and talked about phones at Droid Life because this is a community full of nerds who love nerd things that run Google’s version of Android. But as long as Pixel still means what Nexus meant, the name is only that, a name.

Just two days ago, a report suggested that Google would abandon the Nexus branding for its upcoming 2016 phones and go with something else, though no one was sure at the time what the new brand would be. That thought lined up with a report from back in June out of the Telegraph that claimed … Continued

Just two days ago, a report suggested that Google would abandon the Nexus branding for its upcoming 2016 phones and go with something else, though no one was sure at the time what the new brand would be. That thought lined up with a report from back in June out of the Telegraph that claimed Google would release its own branded phone later in 2016 and was discussing the move with carriers. This evening, additional support has been stacked behind this idea, only now we may have names to replace Nexus.

According to Android Police, Google will indeed go with its own in-house brand for its upcoming phones, a brand you are actually familiar with already – Pixel. The two HTC-made Google phones will release as the Pixel and Pixel XL. As you can probably guess, Pixel will be the smaller “sailfish” device with a 5-inch display, while the Pixel XL will be the “marlin” device with a larger 5.5-inch display.

What’s odd at this point is the fact that we know HTC is making these phones. We know that because there are two FCC filings for each phone that show HTC as the maker. That’s odd because Pixel devices, at least in the past, have been 100% Google-made and designed with no manufacturing partner to talk about. With HTC making these and Google supposedly giving them the Pixel name while stripping HTC branding, the confusion has reached peak confusion.

But hey, Google does some things that we just don’t understand from time to time. This may be one of them. After all, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said just three months ago that they weren’t building their own in-house phone and that they were investing more in Nexus. This idea of a Pixel phone(s) certainly goes against that on every single level.

OK, so when will we finally see these two new Pixel phones? Android Police sources have now backed up the October 4 date that we first reported a month ago. We told you at the time that a reliable source who had been correct time and time again had shared the date.

To add to the fun, they are also under the impression that we will see not only the Pixel and Pixel XL, but Google Home, a 4K Chromecast, and Google’s Daydream VR headset. No one knows when any of this will go on sale or how much any of it will cost, but October 4 sure seems like a date to mark on your calendars.

As the leaks have trickled out in recent months surrounding the rumored two Nexus phones for 2016, made by HTC, potential names have not been a part of the equation. Why? That’s a question we don’t have an answer to, but I think it’s safe to say that some of those rumors were considering the … Continued

As the leaks have trickled out in recent months surrounding the rumored two Nexus phones for 2016, made by HTC, potential names have not been a part of the equation. Why? That’s a question we don’t have an answer to, but I think it’s safe to say that some of those rumors were considering the idea that these might not end up being Nexus phones, at least in name. According to a report out of Android Central, that’s exactly what we should expect to happen. In fact, their sources are under the impression that the HTC-made phones will arrive under a different brand name altogether.

No physical evidence or possible branding or name options were given in the report, but they do make it sound like all of the leaks hinting at subtle software tweaks here and there outside of stable Android Nougat that just released, are some sort of evidence that Google is going a different route. Then again, LG just teased the V20 yesterday in a video on Twitter with a similar setup to what previous leaks were showing as some sort of Nexus experience. Honestly, I don’t know what to believe.

On one hand, we’ve seen no evidence of Nexus branding on any leak, including these images of a prototype device. Even the crew at Android Police, who have been leading the HTC Nexus leak charge seem to occasionally use quotations around the word “Nexus,” as if they aren’t certain the phones will be Nexus either.

“Today we do it as Nexus devices…we are investing more effort into them. You’ll see us put more thought into our Nexus devices going forward.”

This was three months ago and the head of Google called them Nexus devices over and over, talked of future Nexus devices, and made no mention of them ditching the brand. He did, however, talk a lot about tweaking the software experience to some sort of proprietary experience that would be exclusive to Nexus phones. And that’s exactly what a number of the leaks have shown, especially now that Nougat is available.

I should point out that a leaked “sailfish” ROM that was sent to us weeks ago has both the Nexus Launcher and Nexus Wallpaper picker, among other Nexus-related notes. I’m talking about the fact that these files have the name “Nexus” in them. Take a look.

Let’s also not forget that the FCC filing for the two new HTC-made Nexus phones both said to find the user guide for each at support.google.com/nexus. And I get that Google could easily switch things up, move this stuff around, change branding, and they needed to list something there for a minute to get everything squared away at the FCC before launch. Or maybe they’ll just be new Nexus phones.

Or maybe they aren’t going to be Nexus phones? Look, Google does plenty of weird shit. Remember when the Android Market all of sudden became Google Play? Or when they released Google Spaces, basically just as an app for I/O attendees to play with for 3 days? Google does things that most of us can’t explain, but they often work out, which I’m sure will be the case if they do ditch the Nexus brand. Google could very well switch things up and create a new brand of phones. Maybe they’ll call these new phones the Google S1 and Google M1 with the “Nexus Experience.”

Whatever happens, they’ll still be the phones for die-hards like you and I. The big play will be whether or not everyone else will see the value that we do. Maybe a branding change will help do that.

NOTE: I was just reminded that the Telegraphfirst reported word of a Google-branded phone arriving later this year. Maybe this is exactly what they were referring to.

WiFi Assistant, a feature once exclusive to Project Fi users, will soon be available for all Nexus owners in the US, Canada, Mexico, UK, and Nordic countries. WiFi Assistant allows users to automatically connect to open WiFi networks that Google has verified as fast and reliable. For example, if you are strolling through a store … Continued

WiFi Assistant, a feature once exclusive to Project Fi users, will soon be available for all Nexus owners in the US, Canada, Mexico, UK, and Nordic countries. WiFi Assistant allows users to automatically connect to open WiFi networks that Google has verified as fast and reliable. For example, if you are strolling through a store that has open WiFi, your phone will automatically connect to it if your cell service is poor. It’s one of the reasons Project Fi is so nice to use.

According to Google, this feature will be made available to all supported devices over the coming weeks. Once it is live, there is one simple step to take for you to enable the feature. Simply open the Settings on your phone, head to “Google” then “Networking.” Once inside, enable “Wi-Fi Assistant” with the on/off switch.

As mentioned, you may not see it quite yet, but it should be available very soon. When your device is connected to a network via WiFi Assistant, the notification bar on your device will show a VPN “key” logo. That logo looks like this – . As for your WiFi connection, it will say, “Connected via WiFi Assistant.”

]]>https://www.droid-life.com/2016/08/24/google-wifi-assistant-nexus/feed/83HTC Nexus Phones Stop Off at the FCC With Universal US Carrier Support (Updated)https://www.droid-life.com/2016/08/15/htc-nexus-phones-stop-off-fcc/
https://www.droid-life.com/2016/08/15/htc-nexus-phones-stop-off-fcc/#commentsMon, 15 Aug 2016 15:12:49 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=190173

Oh boy, the HTC Nexus phones just stopped off at the FCC this morning. As we all know, that’s huge news in terms of how this story begins to unfold in front of us. After seeing supposed pictures of one of the phones hours ago, we now know model numbers, get confirmation that HTC is … Continued

Oh boy, the HTC Nexus phones just stopped off at the FCC this morning. As we all know, that’s huge news in terms of how this story begins to unfold in front of us. After seeing supposed pictures of one of the phones hours ago, we now know model numbers, get confirmation that HTC is indeed making two Nexus phones, and other details, like universal LTE support across US carriers, including Verizon.

Let’s dive into the filings that went live this morning and share what we are finding. Also, as we find more, we’ll be updating this post.

First off all, we have two filings because we are looking at two phones. As of right now, we don’t know size differences, though we are looking for those. What we have is one phone under FCC filing NM8G-2PW4100 and model number G-2PW4100, along with a second under FCC filing NM8G-2PW2100 and model number G-2PW2100. For those curious, HTC uses “NM8” as their grantee code, which is like a company code for the FCC. HTC is also listed all over these filings, but what makes them unique is that “G” just after the “NM8,” a letter that could represent “Google” in this whole story.

Oh, and in case you wanted the confirmation that these are Nexus phones for Google, look no further than the document that tells us where to find the user manual for each:

See that note about the final version being made publicly available on Google’s website of “http://support.google.com/nexus”? Yeah, I’d say that would be all the confirmation we need.

The codenames are no where to be found, but a reasonable person could come to the conclusion that G-2PW4100 is the bigger, “Marlin” Nexus with a 5.5-inch display and the G-2PW2100 is the smaller, “Sailfish” Nexus with a 5-inch screen. Again, that isn’t confirmed just yet in these FCC listings, but it would make sense for it to shake out like that.

As for other details, here is a look at the filing numbers for each:

Curious as to what LTE and other network bands will be supported in the US? We have all the ones we needed to see, which show these phones working on all the major US carriers including Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint.

We’re still digging through each document, so stick with us as we update.

UPDATE 1: Here is the kernel info at the time these phones were submitted to the FCC.

Ready to catch your first supposed real look at one of the new HTC Nexus phones, the smaller “Sailfish” model? Here you go! According to the folks at Android Police, who previously posted a mock-up that looked quite similar to what we are seeing below, this is the real deal. Aside from the insane amounts … Continued

Ready to catch your first supposed real look at one of the new HTC Nexus phones, the smaller “Sailfish” model? Here you go!

According to the folks at Android Police, who previously posted a mock-up that looked quite similar to what we are seeing below, this is the real deal. Aside from the insane amounts of cropping needed to protect sources, we are getting front, back, and side shots to reveal all that is the smaller 5-inch Nexus made by HTC.

The phone, looks like a pretty standard black smartphone slab with a whole lot of iPhone in it. We have a rear fingerprint reader, volume and power buttons on the right side, antenna lines galore, and a camera/flash housing up in the rear upper left corner. And yes, we do have some sort of glass or glossy panel on the upper half of the backside, just like the previous renders suggested.

Also, get a load of that chin.

Holy, chin.

Alright, with that out of the way, nothing else here is really all that new outside of this being a first real look at the phone. And again, this is the smaller 5-inch version of the expected new Nexus phones. Android Police states that this phone is very much premium and metallic, just smaller.

With that said, an anonymous Twitter account popped up over the weekend with this photo:

The 2016 HTC Nexus looks like a cross between the Nexus 4 & iPhone with glass and fingerprint scanner on the back. pic.twitter.com/7pm9fhszki

This random anonymous account says that we might not get two premium phones and will instead get one premium model, the “Marlin,” along with a plasticy secondary phone known as the “Sailfish.” That goes in contrast with what we have been told by AP for weeks, so I’ll let you decide what you want to believe. This account is also under the impression that the glossy panel on the back will take up the entire backside in the “final” design, unlike the half-gloss approach in the images above.

When the new HTC-made Nexus phones arrive at some point in the near future (maybe in early October), two sources suggest that we might see them sold directly through carriers, just like the Nexus 6 and Galaxy Nexus before them. Well, one carrier in particular has been mentioned twice – Verizon. According to Evan Blass, Big … Continued

When the new HTC-made Nexus phones arrive at some point in the near future (maybe in early October), two sources suggest that we might see them sold directly through carriers, just like the Nexus 6 and Galaxy Nexus before them. Well, one carrier in particular has been mentioned twice – Verizon.

According to Evan Blass, Big Red plans to “carry the two ‘Nexus’ handsets.” And yes, Evan tossed in quotation marks around the word Nexus, which is probably a suggestion that we may not like the carrier tie-in. In other words, these will be Nexus devices, but there is a good chance they’ll have select bloat, potentially slower updates, etc.

In some circles of the internet, where they make things up, few are suggesting that Verizon is going to rename the devices based on this Tweet with quotes around the Nexus tag. I don’t see that at all…but OK!

Verizon is going to carry the two "Nexus" handsets (note the quotation marks).

On a related note, Nate Benis, the man who leaked the Nexus Launcher, has additional info about the upcoming Nexus “Marlin” that seems to backup what Blass is saying here. He shows info from a build he must have access to that includes mentions of Verizon Visual Voicemail support, AT&T and Verizon WiFi Calling, and Verizon’s multimedia broadcast multicast service. Since all of that stuff is a part of the system, Benis suggests that these new Nexus phones will indeed be sold through carriers.

To recap, according to both of these gentlemen, the Nexus phones will come to carriers, including Verizon. They will be Nexus phones, but they may not be that pure of all pure experiences for Android elitists, because they do have some behind-the-scenes bloat.

Here’s to hoping they also aren’t carrier-priced. I think we all saw how well that went with the Nexus 6.

We are getting close to Google’s unveiling of the Nexus devices for 2016, but before that happens, we wanted to get a feeling for which past released Nexus phone is your favorite. We’re talking all-time here. Realizing not everyone here has owned each Nexus device, feel free to judge on which design you like the most, … Continued

We are getting close to Google’s unveiling of the Nexus devices for 2016, but before that happens, we wanted to get a feeling for which past released Nexus phone is your favorite. We’re talking all-time here.

Realizing not everyone here has owned each Nexus device, feel free to judge on which design you like the most, or even what version of Android it shipped with. The goal here is to find which Nexus device is the all-time favorite among DL folk.

Personally, while the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S would be in my Top 3, I have to give my all-time favorite choice to the Nexus 5. It felt great in-hand and Kit Kat was awesome.

What about you?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen reported specs for the Nexus “Sailfish” fly across the web, all of which we have reported on. This morning, an actual benchmark from GFXBench has hit the web, detailing the same specs we have already seen numerous times. Given all of the past discussed specs are … Continued

Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen reported specs for the Nexus “Sailfish” fly across the web, all of which we have reported on. This morning, an actual benchmark from GFXBench has hit the web, detailing the same specs we have already seen numerous times. Given all of the past discussed specs are aligning pretty well for Sailfish, we feel confident that this is likely what we should expect when the device is made official by Google.

As listed on GFXBench, the Sailfish is most definitely the smaller (also potentially more affordable) model of the 2016 Nexus devices, featuring a 1080p 5-inch display, Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of onboard storage (with other storage models likely available), and 11-megapixel camera. Whether the back camera is actually 11MP or this spec is simply rounded down from the standard 12-megapixel remains to be seen.

While these specs paint a decent picture, we still have yet to see the actual device, something we are a bit more concerned about. Speaking purely on the specs, this sounds like a great little device, one that should launch with a very attractive starting price.

Take a look over the specs, then share your hot take below in the comments. Is this the 5-inch phone you’ve been dying for? More interested in the potential big brother Marlin device?